HCI swap and it just keeps getting worse and worse.

[ttocs]

Bought a set of trickflow 170 heads and a stage 1 cam and went to a guy in my club to install them as I am not a motor guy. He has a 700 hp fox dragster that he works on himself and can run a high 5 sec 1/8 mile pass but my 94 has been kickin his ass... The motor is a rebuild motor from jasper eng/tranny's with less then 10k on it and because of this we decided to nix a new timing set and lifters as would normally be done. Also during this time I came across a used anderson power pipe that I decided to pick and and then went with a lightning maf to go with it. We do not have a tuner/dyno that is close by so I opted for a3 bank chip from am muscle from bama tuning. after the initial install(and prior to putting the power pipe, maf and chip in) it started and ran but was again not as good as it needed to be and we assumed it was the tune. That was the point I bought the pipe maf and tune and slapped it on there and then when we went to check timing it would either die off or start to backfire from the exhaust and would hardly idle. After some time and thought he thought maybe the valves needed adjusting and went in and did that and then it went from bad, to really really bad. Never heard an engine run that rough as it is buckin and kicking all over the place. He took some time to think about it and then checked the lifters through the breather while cranking it manually to verify that it had skipped timing(I think that is the right term). So then we decided to go ahead and do the timing set as well as check the balancer to make sure it had not slipped but both looked good.

At this point I am not so sure about the tune but my motor guy says that the tune should not be causing it to backfire and pop from the exhaust? I am probably going to put the old maf and chip in to see if what happens but I really need some help on this if anyone has any other ideas? right now he is checking it to make sure it is not a callapsed lifter but again I am not a motor dude and have no ideas of what else it could be.

 

[OnyxCobra]

are you 100% sure the LMAF was put into the tune? The car will not run at all with a LMAF and improper tune.

 

[945.0]

recheck all ignition components might be something stupid like broken wire. make sure dist is notched perfect too. just throwing some ideas out there

 

[ttocs]

yes all the parts that were put on the car were in the drop down menus and were added. They even called me to ensure I had the hrns/adaptor needed to connect the maf so they were aware of it and I would assume they put it on there.

One other thing is I have 24 lb injectors, not that it should matter.

 

[ttocs]

recheck all ignition components might be something stupid like broken wire. make sure dist is notched perfect too. just throwing some ideas out there

while I am not a motor guy wires have never scared me. If I had found any broken wires while I was helping him I would have fixed them but if you have any idea of specific places to look let me know and I will check. We have also checked the vacume lines but not found any problems there.

Thanks for all the responces, the more the better.

 

[Steven]

Possible you have the distributor off? Check TDC and rotor location.

 

[ttocs]

I will ask him but I am fairly sure he would have already as he has taken it apart now 3 times....

one of the few parts in the motor that is original is the EGR stuff so I have wondered about that.

 

[OnyxCobra]

so you told them you had the 24lbers along with the LMAF?

 

[ttocs]

yes. The only part I was unsure about on the tune was I remembered as I went down the menu that I didn't see anyplace for the cam info so under the notes I wrote that it was a trickflow stage 1 cam with 1.6 svo roller rockers. Again when the guy called me to ask about the hrns he repeated all of that but when I got it under the list of specifications I noticed that now it had a spot for the cam and it was listed as stock.... I am going to call tomorow to ask them personally if the correct cam was added or if the stocker was put in?

 

[Steven]

The distributor could be off just enough. That or it's 180 out. Or hell, your dizzy could have taken a crap. It wouldn't surprise me with those cars

 

[ttocs]

as bad as its runnin it isn't just a little bit off if its off...

 

[OnyxCobra]

disty could be off a tooth, it's enough to make it run like crap and a pretty easy mistake to make.

 

[ttocs]

bad enough to make it sound like its missing a cylinder or two?

 

[OnyxCobra]

easily, my car didn't even want to idle with the disty being off a tooth. and the best part is I thought I was installing it correctly but actually messed it up twice in a row. Easiest way to check is pull the spout and check your timing.

 

[det_riot]

definitely could be a tooth off. what I did after my swap to check my dizzy position was to get the car at tdc. once you do that, pop the cap off your dizzy and note the position of the rotor. Once you figure out the position of the rotor w/e it may be, use that position as your tdc, number 1 wire and route your plugs from there.

 

[rz5.0]

Timing is a possibility so is a vac leak. But I think you really just need a good tune. AM is not going to get it going perfect. Get a wideband and you see your problem.

 

[rz5.0]

Cam was it degree or set straight up?

 

[ttocs]

straight up dot to dot

 

[95MustangGT]

When I put mine together I ended up putting the distributer in 180 degrees out. The car would not start and after a few attempts there was a huge backfire out of the exhaust that sounded like a bomb going off. I'd check the timing and re-check the plug wires to make sure they are in the right place. Things like that are easy to over look.

 

[ttocs]

the plug wires would be hard to screw up on mine as I have a wire loom that they are mounted in that holds them all in place 4" from the plug. I will have my buddy check out the dist and see what he sees.